What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season Premiere)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 2, Episode 1 “Shadows” (B-)

I wasn’t so thrilled with the direction that this show went at the end of last season, and now the show has the opportunity to start over following a summer hiatus. It’s understandable that the show would be in post-crisis mode, with its team members in different places and the structure and order of things looking entirely unfamiliar. What that does mean is that things are a bit all over the place and unorganized, which creates a mix of excitement and uncertainty. There is a pretty large infusion of new characters, most recognizably Lucy Lawless as the most levelheaded of a renegade bunch of former assets, who has now lost her life following the severing of a limb and a formidable car crash. Coulson is now the director of whatever remains of S.H.I.E.L.D, which means that he’s traveling all over the place to find new recruits and acting more and more like Fury every day. May is still his relied-upon number two, but his relationship with Skye is limited to asking her to go talk to an immensely cocky Ward, who I see becoming a tiresome character if he remains in custody for the foreseeable future. Fitz is obviously in bad shape, but just for the sake of a surprising twist, it appears that Simmons made the decision to leave so that he could better recuperate, which means that he’s been talking to himself for a while now thinking he’s communicating with his less literal better half. The villain who can absorb whatever he touches is somewhat cool, but this show is going to have to get itself back on track in the next few weeks if I’m going to keep watching this season. I’m more excited about “Marvel’s Agent Carter,” which takes this show’s place in January and looks pretty decent from the preview we saw in the opening moments of this episode.